Dylan Perlot – Be Kind Rewind

Dylan Perlot unpacks his latest editorial, Be Kind, Rewind, his refusal of sterile perfection, and why his career-defining moment is still ahead of him.

From small-town France to Los Angeles, the photographer, Dylan Perlot unpacks his latest editorial, Be Kind, Rewind. He also discusses his refusal of sterile perfection and why he still measures his craft by the stories it tells rather than the clothes on the rack.

Dylan Perlot left a small town in eastern France right after high school, armed with nothing but a camera and, in his own words, “a little bit of delusion.” However, the photographer faced years of rejection before making his mark in the biggest international magazines. Indeed, his path was never a straight line. Instead, it demanded a stubborn belief in his own vision and a relentless habit of turning childhood memories into visual fuel. This month, Perlot sits down with us to unpack that journey. He also explores his latest editorial, Be Kind, Rewind.

Dylan Perlot’s photographs refuse to hide where they come from. He describes his own aesthetic as raw yet refined. His emotional state on the day of the shoot shapes every image. That creative drive fuels Be Kind, Rewind. VHS glitch effects and saturated colors define the editorial. Fashion stylist Andrew Philip Nguyen helped bring it to life against a backdrop of blasting nineties dance tracks.

Nostalgia is never mere decoration for Dylan Perlot. Instead, it provides the structural framework of his work. By layering analog texture over sharp digital images, he recreates the sweaty, unfiltered atmosphere of growing up in nineties France. Rather than chasing sterile perfection, he embraces imperfection. That instinct takes us back to where it all began. We return to the stubborn beginnings, the weight of storytelling, and the journey of a small-town kid. He turned his wildest illusions into an international career.

IRK: You grew up in a small town in eastern France, moved to Los Angeles, and are now published in the biggest fashion magazines in the world. How did you get there. What did that path actually look like?

Dylan Perlot: I think it took a lot of courage from a very young age. More than anything, it took a little delusion. Honestly, it still does today. I always had big dreams and wild fantasies as a kid, even when people made fun of them. Looking back, I think that only fueled my determination to build the life I imagined. There’s definitely a learning curve to mastering photography, and it takes years of practice, persistence, and rejection. Like Lady Gaga said many times, “There could be 100 people in the room…”. It only takes one person to believe in you. I think that perfectly sums up my journey in such a saturated industry and how I got to shoot with so many iconic magazines, celebrities and brands.

IRK: How do you describe your visual signature. What makes a Dylan Perlot image recognizable?

Dylan Perlot: I want my work to represent every side of who I am. That includes the lighter, happier version of myself, as well as the darker emotions that live within me. I’d describe my aesthetic as raw yet refined, soft yet powerful. My work is heavily influenced by the emotional state I’m in while creating. For this editorial, summer was approaching, Madonna was teasing Confessions II, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the feeling of being on a sweaty dance floor at 2 a.m. That energy naturally found its way into the images.

IRK: What was the turning point in your career. The project or the moment where everything shifted?

Dylan Perlot: Without sounding cheesy, I genuinely hope that moment hasn’t happened yet. I’ve been fortunate to experience so many career milestones already: shooting magazine covers, photographing celebrities, working on major campaigns, but I’m always looking ahead. I’m definitely a high achiever, so as grateful as I am, my mind is usually already dreaming about the next project.

IRK: Be Kind, Rewind feels very pop, very electric. Saturated colors, glitch effects, two very different energies on set. Where did this story start for you. What was the first image or idea that triggered it all?

Dylan Perlot: I don’t remember the exact moment, but Andrew Philip Nguyen and I had long admired John Galliano’s Dior summer campaigns. Those references shaped the starting point of the shoot. We also recreated iconic, sweaty yet luxurious duo portraits. Our glam team, Gilbert Soliz and Eskee Lee, elevated the entire concept. A carefully curated playlist of ’90s and 2000s dance music brought everyone on set into the same creative headspace.

IRK: You also layer VHS glitch effects over otherwise sharp images. What were you trying to say about memory, or the way we look back at the past?

Dylan Perlot: As a ’90s kid, VHS tapes are such a core childhood memory for me. My work often references little fragments of growing up in France, whether it’s a specific feeling or an entire aesthetic. If these images had been purely digital, they would have felt too clean and contemporary, which wasn’t what I wanted. I wanted raw, distorted and summer high-end at the same time. I’m also a huge movie lover, so bringing those VHS textures into the story felt like adding another emotional layer to the nostalgia.

IRK: Building the right team is everything in this industry. How do you find your people and what makes a collaboration truly work for you?

Dylan Perlot: Once you find your people, you tend to hold onto them. They understand you, you understand them, and everything becomes this smooth creative dance on set. It stops feeling like work and starts feeling like a group of friends pouring their hearts into something they all genuinely care about. I really treasure those collaborations because everyone brings a different perspective, and that’s where the magic usually happens.

IRK: Every photographer has a favorite moment in the process. The set, the edit, the first look at a shot. Where does the real magic happen for you?

Dylan Perlot: Definitely on set. That’s where the vision comes alive. There’s nothing quite like the moment everyone gathers around the monitor, a new image appears, and the whole team goes, “Wow.” That’s my happy place for sure!

IRK: Is there a project that stays with you. One that felt like the little kid from France who used to flip through magazines finally got his moment?

Dylan Perlot: Last year I photographed the Fall/Winter 2025 Harley-Davidson campaign under the creative direction of Nicola Formichetti. For 13-year-old Dylan, who grew up watching Lady Gaga’s Alejandro music video and the famous meat dress era, working with Nicola was truly a career goal. If I could speak to that kid who was teased for being different in middle school, I’d simply tell him: “You just wait kid. Those people aren’t your people. There’s a whole world out there where your uniqueness will be celebrated.

AI is reshaping the creative industry fast. Where do you stand. Do you see it as a tool, a threat, or something else entirely?

Dylan Perlot: I’m probably somewhere in the middle, but leaning toward being cautious. I can usually tell when an image has been entirely created by AI, and personally it doesn’t move me emotionally the same way. That said, I do appreciate AI as a tool when it helps speed up repetitive tasks, especially in post-production. We have to evolve with technology, so I’m paying attention to it, learning what feels useful, and leaving behind what doesn’t align with the kind of work I want to create.

IRK: Who are you when you’re not behind a camera?

Dylan Perlot: Photography honestly takes up a huge part of my personality (haha). Outside of that, I love cinema, traveling, being outdoors, listening to music, and anything that makes me feel inspired therefore alive. Those moments eventually find their way back into my photography.

IRK: If you couldn’t shoot fashion anymore, what would you photograph?

Dylan Perlot: If I couldn’t shoot fashion anymore, I would still photograph people. Clothes might simply become less central to the image. To me, fashion photography has always focused on storytelling rather than garments. Even an artistic nude portrait can feel like fashion when it communicates a compelling narrative. I often think of Steven Meisel’s Sex book with Madonna from 1992. I still consider it part of the fashion photography world. It might sound strange, but it makes sense to me.

IRK: Is there an emotion or a story you’ve been chasing for years that you haven’t quite managed to capture yet?

I love this question. Every time I think I’ve photographed everything I wanted to photograph, another idea immediately appears. My brain is constantly collecting references. This might sound a little dark, but I’ve always wanted to create a fashion story around the feeling of depression. I just haven’t quite figured out how to translate that emotion visually yet – or maybe I’m simply not ready to tell that story. On a much lighter note, I’d absolutely love to photograph in zero gravity one day, whether that’s on a parabolic flight or, if I’m really dreaming big… in space itself?

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Editorial credits

Photographer: Dylan Perlot @dylanperlot for@anomalous.agency
Wardrobe Stylist: Andrew Philip Nguyen @lil_saigon
Models: Nyawuta Chol @nyawutac for @fordmodels + Anabel Krasnotsvetova @anabelkras for @photogenicsla
Makeup Artist: Gilbert Soliz @gilbert_soliz for @agency.paradis using MAC
Hairstylist: Eskee Lee @e.s.k.e.e for@neuxartists